No hurdle for Saseendran to return to cabinet: Kerala CM

There are no hurdles for A K Saseendran to return to the cabinet now, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today after the Judicial Commission cleared the name of the former minister in a sleaze audio case.
Saseendran, former transport minister, had resigned in the wake of sleaze talk allegations against him.
"There are no obstacles for Saseendran becoming a minister again. But that has not to be decided by me alone. The decision in this regard has to be taken jointly," Vijayan told reporters when asked if the former minister, an NCP MLA, would be taken back into the cabinet.

The chief minister's reaction came in the wake of the Justice P S Antony Commission, constituted to probe the allegations against Sassendran, stating that the body could not ascertain the authenticity of the purported voice clip of the former minister conversing with a woman, which was aired by a local television channel in March last year.
According to the commission report, it was not Saseendran who had committed the crime, but the channel which had aired it, Vijayan said.
The report received the cabinet approval today.

Reacting to the commission report, Saseendran told reporters that he was happy that the chief minister, the public and the media have supported him.

The party (NCP) and the front will take a decision on my re-entry into the cabinet, he said.
The NCP has two MLAs in the state assembly.
Following Saseendran's resignation, Thomas Chandy of the NCP had made his entry into the cabinet as transport minister.
But, he too was forced to resign on encroachment allegations after the Kerala High court made stinging observations against him.